Chapter 1: In Summation

Although its alphabetic structure suggests order, the first chapter of Eikha is thematically haphazard. The chapter flings about a myriad of topics, including: Jerusalem’s tears, the exile of her population, the groans and sorrow of the suffering, the success and mockery of the enemies, the desecration of the Temple, the starvation of the population, and the inescapable, ever-looming certainty of death.